DATA Science students from Mapua University emerged as champions in the Philippine Junior Data Science Challenge 2023, co-presented by the UP Data Science Society and the Bank of the Philippine Islands.

Team Insigion was composed of third-year students Christine Love Ladringan, Alwin Denz Santos, and Lorenzo David Divina.

They bested over 160 teams from various schools in the Philippines with their UNA project, setting them apart from the 15 other finalists in the prestigious challenge’s third stage.

According to Mapua, UNA was an artificial intelligence-driven internal application that enabled customers to be more productive by automating customer segmentation and personalized recommendations.

The final working product was inspired by the assigned data set challenge the group had to analyze and solve during the competition.

“What sets our project apart is that we developed an application. Our app is already a working application. Pwede nang gamitin, but of course, pwede pang i-improve. That also sets us apart as contestants, kasi meron kaming skills for development and data science,” Mapua quoted Ladringan as saying.

Meanwhile, Santos explained that their AI output could predict customers and their behaviors, which could be particularly useful to companies with a large customer base.

“It can be applied in different industries so they can know and reach their customers, and in the case of BPI, teach customers about financial literacy and handling money and finances,” he added.

On the other hand, Divina expressed UNA’s immense potential in banking and customer-focused industries.

He hoped that the BPI would partner with them soon, “so they could integrate the application they developed using actual customer data sets and connect the app to their system and data center to benefit more branches and customers.”

Engr. Ericson Dimaunahan mentored the students, who served as their team coach.